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Steppin’ Out
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Portlander heads psychiatric group
Dr. Peggy Hackenbruck elected president of the Association
of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists at San Francisco convention
BY
H O C H M A N
r. Peggy Hackenbruck remembers
marching with her colleagues down the
streets of Washington, DC in October 1987,
their professional banner waving overhead,
and hearing a bystander’s startled comment:
“Wow. there are even gay and lesbian
psychiatrists.”
For years, the psychiatric community was
loath to acknowledge homosexuality as
normal and positive — in or out of its own
ranks. Gay and lesbian psychiatrists often
remained closeted rather than risk being
blacklisted by colleagues. The Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual, the bible of mental
health, listed homosexuality as a mental
disorder.
That changed in 1973, when homo
sexuality was taken out of the book. And
since then, the American Psychiatric
Association (APA) has become more
conscious, less homophobic and more willing
to consider the needs of gay and lesbian
psychiatrists, Hackenbruck said.
She recently became president of the
Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists,
a group separate from the APA which tries to
educate the psychiatric community, support
gay and lesbian practitioners and serve as a
resource for questions. The group, which is
about 10 years old. started “w ith gay
psychiatrists — men. mostly — meeting one
another clandestinely in gay bars during
meetings of (he APA. Men who are now in
their 50s and 60s, who thought they were the
only ones, and got up the nerve to say to the
man next to them at the bar, T m here for the
APA.’
"So it started as a social and support
group." Since then, spurred by the 1973
change and the support of some heterosexual
D
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A N N I) E E
psychiatrists, the group’s focus has shifted to
education, presenting panels and programs to
the larger APA and publishing a journal of
case studies.
“I think attitudes have changed
dramatically,” Hackenbruck said. “Especially
within the official structure of the APA. We
have gone from being given booth space [at
APA conventions] in a far comer behind a
pillar to being given booth space by the front
door.”
James Krajeski, a psychiatrist who served
for six years as chair of the APA's committee
on gay, lesbian and bisexual issues, agreed
that the ofticial stance, as well as the more
subtle response to gay and lesbian
psychiatrists, has changed.
"It's much easier to come out now. The
leadership of the APA is very supportive of
gay and lesbian issues these days,” he said.
At the most recent APA convention held
in San Francisco May 6-11, the program
included discussions of homophobia, anti-gay
violence and the training of gay psychiatrists
by openly gay psychiatrists. Film offerings
included the feature "Not All Parents Are
Straight.”
The most powerful educational tool,
Hackenbruck said, is for gay and lesbian
psychiatrists to come out — in their medical
schools, to their colleagues, to their
supervisors.
"We recognize that not all our members
can be out. Some people do lose their jobs, or
don t get promoted, so they have to stay
closeted. But we now have young people
who are out in their medical schools and
residencies. We feel the people who are out
make the biggest difference."
Because psychiatrists' attitudes about
sexuality, as well as other matters, are heavily
influenced in the classroom, the AGLP is now
working on medical-school curricula that
stress gay- and lesbian-positive teaching.
Another issue that is more difficult to
tackle is the public perception of psychiatry,
particularly in the gay and lesbian
community, as being rigidly homophobic.
Hackenbruck said that while the stance of
psychiatrists toward gay and lesbian issues
may be among the most liberal of the medical
specialties, it still lags behind that of
psychologists and social workers.
“I think word is gradually getting out that
many psychiatrists are not homophobic, said
Krajeski. “Or, at least, no more homophobic
than everyone else.”
Some of the changes in attitude arc
tangible. The APA has included "sexual
orientation” in its non-discrimination clause
since 1973, and local chapters signed on to
endorse the “No on 8” campaign last
November and the gay-rights bill, HB 2325.
in 1987.
In the meantime, the AGLP continues to
provide crucial support for gay and lesbian
members, whether they are out or not. I g°*
involved because it was very important in my
coming out,” said Hackenbruck. "I needed
that professional supporf."
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